Harry Potter Taboo: 5 Reasons The Cursed Child Is The Worst Adaptation Material

Warner Bros. made it loud and clear last year that they wanted to cash in on their most popular franchises as much as possible. And without skipping a beat, they got down to business.

The news of the new Max Harry Potter show, based on J.K. Rowling's iconic book series, was received with mixed feelings by Wizarding World fans. Of course, it could be a worthy reboot for the story of the boy who lived. But then again, we all know how rarely remakes turn out to be better than the originals.

Anyway, the new series is a done deal, so we have to keep our fingers crossed that it will be worthy of its source material.

The whole other business is another Harry Potter project that has reportedly come up in discussions within the studio offices.

Rumor has it that Warner Bros. CEO David Zaslav tried to bring up the idea of adapting Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a sequel play that was promoted as 'the eighth story in the Harry Potter series' when it was released as a script book back in 2016.

Since the play has been a huge success on many theatrical stages around the world, we understand why Zaslav and Warner Bros. producers would want to get their share of the profits from it. But if you ask any Wizarding World fan, there's no worse source material for a film adaptation than this book.

Here's why.

1. It's not Rowling's writing

The Cursed Child was not penned by J.K. Rowling. It was written by Jack Thorne and is only loosely based on a story created with the original author's participation. Probably because of this, it tends to stray from the established lore and is generally considered to be nothing more than fanfiction.

2. Casting would be difficult

The Cursed Child revolves around the friendship and time-traveling adventures of Albus Severus Potter and Scorpius Malfoy (which, let's face it, already reeks of fanfiction). The story features most of the original characters, both in the past and in alternate futures created by the boys' ill-advised actions.

This means that the original Harry Potter cast is necessary for the project to attract attention. But some of the stars, such as Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane, have sadly passed away and others have retired from acting, which makes their presence impossible.

3. It breaks the canon

The play goes a long way in breaking the established laws of the wizarding world. The entire tone and main themes of the book do not match the original. But probably the biggest plot hole is the effect of the Time-Turner that Albus and Scorpius use to change the events of the past.

In Cursed Child, the device creates a parallel reality, while in the Harry Potter series, everything done in the past affects the same timeline.

4. It taints beloved characters

We love Harry and his friends. We have seen them grow up, fall in love, fight evil, develop as people and wizards. But the Cursed Child ruins it all.

In the book, Harry is shown to be an abusive father, Ron dies and Hermione becomes bitter, cruel and lonely, Cedric Diggory survives to become a Death Eater, the Trolley Witch is a pure monster. Even Lord Voldemort turns out to be a family man.

5. Fans hate the Cursed Child

Probably the biggest reason why Warner Bros. should never even think about adapting The Cursed Child is that the majority of fans hate it and will never go to the theater or stream it. The high budget project is at great risk of becoming a box office failure.

Source: Puck.